Definition of Spontaneous generation

1. Noun. A hypothetical organic phenomenon by which living organisms are created from nonliving matter.

Exact synonyms: Abiogenesis, Autogenesis, Autogeny
Generic synonyms: Organic Phenomenon
Derivative terms: Abiogenetic, Abiogenist, Autogenetic

Definition of Spontaneous generation

1. Noun. (biology) the fancied production of living organisms without previously existing parents from inorganic matter, or from decomposing organic matter, a notion which at one time had many supporters; abiogenesis ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Spontaneous generation

1. The obsolete hypothesis that living organisms can originate from nonliving matter. (09 Oct 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Spontaneous Generation

spontaneities
spontaneity
spontaneous
spontaneous abortion
spontaneous agglutination
spontaneous amputation
spontaneous breech extraction
spontaneous cephalic delivery
spontaneous combustion
spontaneous combustions
spontaneous correction of placenta previa
spontaneous emission
spontaneous evolution
spontaneous fracture
spontaneous gangrene of newborn
spontaneous generation
spontaneous generations
spontaneous intermittent mandatory ventilation
spontaneous mutation
spontaneous osteolysis
spontaneous phagocytosis
spontaneous pneumothorax
spontaneous process
spontaneous recovery
spontaneous transformation
spontaneous version
spontaneously
spontaneousness
spontoon
spontoons

Literary usage of Spontaneous generation

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1861)
"spontaneous generation. WHILE Mr Darwin's Origin of Species has been occupying the scientific and semi-scientific circles of England, a similar agitation ..."

2. The Cambridge Natural History by Arthur Everett Shipley, Sidney Frederic Harmer (1906)
"The question of the " spontaneous generation " of the Protista was readily answered in the affirmative by men who believed that Lice bred directly from the ..."

3. The Evolution Theory by August Weismann (1904)
"LECTURE XXXVI spontaneous generation AND EVOLUTION: CONCLUSION Spontaneous generation—Experimental tests impossible—Only the ..."

4. The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge by Charles Anderson Dana (1876)
"spontaneous generation, the direct production of living beings from inanimate material, in contradistinction to the ordinary mode of generation, ..."

5. The Practitioner by Gale Group, ProQuest Information and Learning Company (1877)
"On spontaneous generation and the Doctrine of Contagium Vivum. ... THE two questions of spontaneous generation and of the origin of certain forms of disease ..."

6. Principles of Animal Biology by Aaron Franklin Shull, George Roger Larue, Alexander Grant Ruthven (1920)
"Experiments Discrediting spontaneous generation. ... might arise in a variety of situations without appealing to the idea of spontaneous generation. ..."

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